Closure fastener



Nov. 14, 1933.

C. A. WARG CLOSURE FASTENER Filed Dec. 26, 1929 gwwmtoz Patented Nov.14, 193 3 1,935,492 L CLOSURE FASTENER Charles A. Warg, Scranton, Pa,assignor to McClave-Brooks Company, corporation of PennsylvaniaScrantcn,. Pa., a

7 Application December 26,1929

Serial No. 416,725

sonims. (o1. ace-99y.

This invention relates to'furnace fire doors or other similar closuremembers and has for its principal object the provision of simple. andemcient means combining inone unit a safety latch which willautomatically secure the door in closed position when the latter isswung shut and a door opener which will open. the door when pressure isapplied to the upper end ofthe latch handle or more frequently when thiselement is struck with a fire tool.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a safety latchparticularly applicable to fire doors for furnaces in-which the latchhas lost motion prior to initiating the opening movement of the firedoor whereby a much less powerful blow is required to release; and openthe door than would be thecase if the door started to open as the latchstarted to release. a

'While various opening devices have been sug- 20 gestedand-even used ondoors of general application, ,furnace fire doors are not so providedbecause the devices available are not-altogether satisfactory, some ofthem requiring the furnace man to lay down his tooland operate somerelease mechanism byhand sometimes in. addition toseizing the handle ofthe door to complete the movement;- ;In the present invention a singleassembly, simple and rugged in construction, forms a safety latch whichremains in such posl- 30 -tion that-upon slamming the door, the door.-is

, eifectively closed and latched, and in addition a very simple upwardlydirected blow will open the door with sufficient force to swing it aboutits pivot to open it wide, requiring no further act to gain convenientaccess to the fire.

In the drawing:

Figure v 1 is a front elevation bodying my invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevation.

Figure 3 is a top plan View.

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the safety latch.

The fire door is hinged as at 11 to the frame 12 and these two elementscarry coacting. means for latching the door closed and for opening it,such means including'a projection or keeper 14 on the door and a safetylatch 15 pivoted in a forwardly extending bracket 16 on the fire doorframe 12.

That portion of the integral extension on the fire door which serves asthekeeper for the latch has a cylindrical surface 1'7, the center ofwhich is the axis of'the pivot of the safety latch 15, that'is, the bolt18 which has threaded engagement with the bracket 16. Adjacent thiskeeper projection or lug, toward the handle side of the of a fire dooremstruck. from the same center.

door, is an upwardly and rearwardly} extending curved surface 19which'ends at therear or wall side of the furnace in an abrupt shoulder?21 which is adapted to be engaged, indoor opening movement, by ashoulder 22 on the latch15.

The central portion of the 1nember 15 is the latch portion, its holdingface 23 being cylindrical and of the sameradius as the surface 17.

From the central and outward portion of the main body of .thelatch-rises a handleportion 24 having a rounded forwardly extending hookportion 25 to arrest the edge of therake, scraper, orjhoe or whateverimplement the fireman happens to be using. This safety latchmay'naturally be operated by hand but inpractice it will generally beoperated by a light blow or tap from whatever instrument happens to behandy. The

shoulder 22, previously mentioned, extends from a lateral boss 26against'which the head of the bolt 18 engages, and on theopposite sideofthe latch is a small. laterally extending retaining 'member or 'stop 27which rides in a slot 29 in'the bracket lug 16 and engages the stopsurface 30 to limit upward movement; of the latch and engages a sloping,stopsurface 31 to hold the latch in position to beengaged by the dooras it closes.

1 Assuming the door to beclosecLthe workman strikes or presses a ainstthe upper portion of thehandle. 2! which rotates the safety latch aboutits pivoting bolt 18.. During the first thirty degrees for "so ofmovement the arcuateisurface 23 on t e interior of the hook of the latchslides H smoothly on "the similar arcuate surfaced? on the outside ofthe lug lion ,the door; both cylindrical surfaces being of the sameradius and The latch, therefore; has some little'inertia at the timetheshoulder 22 on its boss 26 strikes against'the rear At the moment of Lor pushed by its free edge, or by its handle, and.

in such closing movement the rounded outward edge 34 of the hook end ofthe latch is held by the lug 27 in position to be engaged by thesmoothly curved upper portion 35 of the keeper 14. vThe latch,therefore, rises gently until the edge of the hook passes the'edge ofthe keeper. At this time the shoulder 21 on the door strikes t eshoulder 22 on the latch-andthis causes the latch to descend intolatching position, the movement being positive and therefore there is nopossible chance of the door rebounding or not being caught in closedposition.

What I claim is:

1. A keeper for a firedoor pivoted to a furnace front, said keeperconsisting of a lug projecting upwardly and outwardly from the dooradjacent the upper edge thereof, away from the hinged side, andextending in part above the upper level of the door, said keeper lughaving its upper surface near its top portion smoothly curved to lift alatch in its path with a constantly diminishing cam action and havingits lower surface near its top portion oppositely curved on an arc toengage an arcuate surface on a latch.

2. The device of claim 1 in which the two surfaces mentioned meet in acusp at which cusp the upper surface is tangent to horizontal and thelower surface is tangent to vertical.

3. A latch for a fire-door pivoted to a furnace front and adapted in oneposition to engage a keeper on the door and in another position toengage a shoulder on the door, comprising a body portion pivoted at itsrear to the furnace front, means on the body of the latch near the pivotadapted to engage an element on the furnace front to limit the swingingof the latch on its pivot so the latchcannot fall below said oneposition which is a substantially horizontal position, and a hooked endon the body having two arouate surfaces meeting in a downwardly andinwardly directed cusp, an upwardly and outwardly directed arm extendingfrom the body and ending in a short forwardly extending portion toengage a tool so that an upward blow of the tool will lift the latch andcause it to release the door and to engage said shoulder to open thedoor.

4. In a closure fastener, a latch having a main body portion pivoted atone end, a laterally extending boss integral with the pivoted end ofsaid body portion, a shoulder on said boss, a keeper engaging member atthe free end of said body portion, an arm rising from said body portionadjacent said member, and a forwardly extending hook on said arm adaptedto be struck by a tool to raise the latch thereby to release the keeperand instantly afterrelease to bring said shoulder against the door toopen the door, the upward length of the arm being a plurality of timesgreaterthan the forward extent of the hook whereby to minimize thedistance the latch extends from the member on which the closure ismounted.

5. A door opening latching device of the'type wherein a keeper on thedoor lifts the latch as the door closes about its hinges, and the dooris given initial opening movement by a movement of the pivoted latch; alatch and a keeper characterized by the provision of two cooperating,engaging curved surfaces on the latch and keeper, said surfaces beingcylindrical, having the same radius, and having their axes in the axisof the pivot of the latch whereby the latch may move thru an appreciableangle while holding the door firmly closed just before freeing andmoving the door to open position.

6. In a device for latching a hinged fire door to a furnace front, abracket extending forwardly from the furnace front, a latch pivoted tothe bracket, means for yieldingly holding the latch gently raise thelatch as the door is moved to,

closed position, said slope rising at a constantly decreasing rate andbecoming tangent to horizontal at its forwardend, and the lower outersurface of the latch being cylindricalwith its axis at the end of thekeeper when the door is latched, additional means on the door adjacentto the keeper and adapted to engage the pivoted end of the latch tothereby drive down the latch into initial holding position, at the endof the closing movement of the door.

8. A latch for a fire-door pivoted to a furnace front and adapted toengage a keeper on the door, comprising a body portion pivoted at itsrear to the furnace front,meanstolimit the swinging of the latch on itspivot so that the latch can not fall below a substantially horizontalposition, a hooked end on the body having two arouate surfaces meetingin a downwardly and inwardly directed cusp,

9. In a closure fastener for furnace doors, a

latch pivoted to the furnace front adjacent the furnace door opening andhaving a stop shoulder radial with the pivotal axis and a cylindricalholding face coaxial with said axis, said latch being intended for usewith a keeper on the door having a cooperating cylindrical surfacecoaxial with the holding face when the door islatched and having aradial shoulder spaced from the latch shoulder when the door is closedbut in contact therewith at the moment the latch is moved to releaseposition.

CHARLES A. WARG.

